231678 PFC. Paul E. Warner US Army from:Baltimore, MD These are the reminisces of my Uncle Paul Warner as transcribed by his daughter Paula. Sadly Uncle Paul left us in 2007 but in the years just prior to his passing he had begun to speak of his time during the war. When I found the name of the camp he had been held at, I also came upon this wonderful site and with Paula's permission I share Uncle Paul's memories with you here.
Paul was drafted in 1943 at the age of 18. After basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama he was assigned to the motor pool as a mechanic, and later assigned as a munitions bearer. In the later part of 1944 Paul was shipped to England, and eventually to Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. By this time he had been assigned to a mortar crew, and though untrained had learned quickly. During this time his unit was captured by the Germans and taken by truck to a railway station and loaded into a cattle car. They were given no food or water for the three days on route to Stalag 4B. While in the camp, he said they were normally given one bowl of potato soup each day, but on occasion they collected dandelions and made soup from them. He spoke of the German's working them in a factory, making ceramic tiles of some sort. Paul and several others would stack the tiles onto a conveyor belt, and he said that they found a way to stack the tiles so that they would eventually fall over on their own and break. When they woke up one day to find that the German's had abandoned the camp, he and several of his buddies took off together, eventually finding themselves in a small town in Czechoslovakia. The Russians were moving through the area at the time and Paul and the men he was with were nearly shot by a patrol because some of their clothing was from German uniforms. Luckily one of those with Paul spoke Polish as did one of the Russians and they were able to explain that they were Americans. They stayed in the town with a woman and her two daughters, Paul said they would steal food and share it with the women, until they were able to locate the American lines and rejoin them. Upon being returned to the United States, Paul spent the remainder of his enlistment at Fort Meade in Maryland.
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